Givenchy: Basketball and Bauhaus

PARIS — The basketball court was framed by crisscross mesh; the lines were red neon strips. And from the first moment that a model in a tailored outfit stalked the court, followed by outfits with fiery colors licking across the chest, the result was clear: game to Givenchy.

The designer Riccardo Tisci has an exceptional flair at melding sport and tailoring, streetwise and office smart, so that the collection moved effortlessly from the hyper luxury of fur scarves caught under white tabs to the same white strips on bold pockets.

Mr. Tisci was thinking big. Very big. The new silhouette did not follow the trend of his previous body-conscious clothes, but was in phase with the sweat tops with strange, sexualized animal patterns that he first introduced three years ago. Those pieces now have reached cult status in the fashion world.

“Basketball and Bauhaus,” said the designer backstage about his inspirations, recalling his games as a teenager and his long obsession with the “less is more” era of Mies van der Rohe’s 1930s architecture.

“It’s a collection about freedom, about lines and blocks; very luxury and elegant,” he said.

The designer then referred to other passions: for animals (hence the fur) and American Latinos, which gave him the idea for fishnet over the models’ face and slicked-back hair, divided by a part.

Whatever the inspiration, the proof is on the runway. And this was a clear, concise and powerful show pushing the brand fast forward on its black or white sports shoes.

The baggy, wide pocket trousers might have been a reference to the hip-hop era of the 1990s, what with Kanye West, a devoted customer, front row and models with rippling abs and bare arms in color-block vests. The soundtrack music from the Martinez Brothers was a remix of house and techno sounds.

The model Mariacarla Boscono, a longtime friend and supporter of Mr. Tisci, made a reappearance on the runway in a female version of the fur-and-sport look.

The Givenchy shows have been brought down to a fine art: enough elegance to confirm the brand’s luxury status and enough street cred to keep the hip-hop royalty on its side.

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